40-year-old Steve Cleator was once a tank commander in the British Army but is now registered as disabled and makes use of his extensive range of tanks to help out at charity events and other occasions where good causes are involved.

Local Outcry

Neighbours have consistently raised complaints about Cleator, however, largely focusing on the fact that these vehicles tend to create obstructions near his home and cause problems for other motorists as a result.

Interestingly enough, the tanks that are kept on the roads comply with current government legislation. As such, the evicted man claims that it is unfair to have been treated in this way, as he has not broken any other aspect of the agreement relating to his tenancy.

Other issues put across by his neighbours include suggestions that the tank’s tracks have done damage to the pavement and surface of the road by the tracks. From an outsider’s perspective, it definitely seems more sensible to try tank driving in an off-road environment. You can go to Armourgeddon to experience this without risking the ire of people who live nearby.

Ultimately, the decision to serve Cleator with the eviction notice fell to the landlord, meaning that there is not much that can be done to overturn this since it was a privately owned property rather than any form of public housing.

Lettings agent Connells said that the eviction notice did not come as a result of the tanks, although they could not provide an alternative explanation as to why this turn of events had occurred.

The landlord is living outside the UK and has so far refused to respond to requests from the media for a comment on this issue.

Whatever the truth of this case, it certainly proves that the pressure put on by residents of a residential development can have serious repercussions. It also suggests that renters’ rights are not especially strong in the UK and that perhaps if more powers were available to those in rented accommodation, a disabled veteran would not have been ousted from his home.